MLG has announced the qualifiers for the 2015 Call of Duty Championships and South Africa is not included this time around. In fact, the truth of the matter is that the entire continent of Africa is not included while Asia, Australia, North America, South America and Europe are all accounted for.

South Africa and Africa’s exclusion has not been explained yet, but the 2014 qualification controversy may have had something to do with it, or it might be that the continent is simply not seen as a big enough market. To be frank, I’m not completely surprised, for the last few months I suspected that SA may be about to be on the receiving end of a kick in the teeth. The question now is what we need to do to become relevant – and again, this will fall on the shoulders of the community first and foremost.

Either way, speculation is likely to become the norm until MLG makes an official comment, but my gut has suspected for a while that trials will be played for a team to be sent to a European or other (such as the UAE) qualifier. So maybe there’s some hope still. Maybe.

For now, the Call of Duty Championships are scheduled for 27 to 29 March in Los Angeles, with qualifiers starting on 16 January.